‘I AM A GRATEFUL TORNADO SURVIVOR’

Tornado victims reflect on recovery one year later

By B Turner

Overa year after the deadly EF-3 tornado hit Bowling Green, Ky. members of the community are still recovering from and feeling the effects of the damage.

The deadly tornado claimed 17 lives in Warren County. Those who survived the tornado are still facing the effects. Lilly Riherd is one such survivor.

On the night of the tornado, Riherd, her son, her son-in-law and her grandson sheltered in her cellar. While they sheltered in assumed safety, the door to the cellar was sucked open by the tornado, as they could all hear glass shattering in the home above them.

Riherd and her family had moved most of their valuables to the garage already, and were able to sleep in some of the better areas of the house that night. In the morning, “people were just coming over voluntarily with chainsaws, with stuff, just doing anything that they can do,” she said.

That Sunday, 40 people were at her house helping her remove the tree that had fallen on it and retrieving salvageable belongings. In the following days, Riherd was able to reach her insurance company and they were able to set her up in a hotel room.

Riherd was denied Federal Emergency Management Agency support due to insurance but had an overall positive experience with her insurance company. After natural disasters strike an area, FEMA will enter the space and try to provide support.

Individuals qualify for FEMA assistance if they are uninsured or underinsured, or need immediate emergency housing.

“The insurance lady says ‘hey, I’m gonna send you X amount of dollars, I know you probably need clothing, you need to do this’ for that first month I was out of sorts,” Riherd said.

She wanted to repair her “Lillypad” [her home] but during the repair and renovation process, the house continued to take damage until it was unsustainable, and she needed to start from scratch. People in her life and from around the community have been helping with this process since the very beginning.

“I was just kind of in awe of the response of everyone in the community – and I can guarantee you when I go and say, ‘hey, it’s time to move in,’ I’ll have a multitude of people come and say, ‘let’s do it,’” Riherd said.

Many survivors of the tornado find themselves living in gratitude now. Angie Link is one such survivor.

“You know, you just have to sit back and be thankful,” Link said on being a survivor. “I mean, I was always thankful for the life I was living or the life I thought I was living, but post-tornado

Link said. “Two times we were turned down because someone had fraudulently used our names and address and fraudulently applied for FEMA.”

They were deemed ineligible for FEMA support because they had insurance.

Despite the hardships and complete rebuild of her house have not brought Link completely down.

“I am a grateful tornado survivor,” she said.

Cort Basham and his family were able to move back into their house in December 2022.

In the morning hours of Dec. 11 Basham, his wife, Laura, their two children, Simon and Naomi, and their dog,

The Basham family was assisted by the community and friends in the coming days.

“From the first minute everyone was super helpful,” Basham said.

The morning after the tornado, the Basham family returned to their home to find neighbors and friends helping remove debris from their house and cutting up the trees so they could be removed.

Despite all the help, the road to recovery has not been completely smooth sailing.

“The kids didn’t come [to the house] until April,” Basham said.

Basham and his wife sat the kids down and discussed whether they felt